How hard is it to convert a walk-in shower back to a bathtub?
Converting a walk-in shower back to a bathtub requires a massive amount of labor, including tearing out the wet walls, subfloor, and surrounding flooring because matching existing tiles and grout is nearly impossible. This invasive process often uncovers hidden damage once walls are opened and forces homeowners into a much larger, more complex renovation than initially planned.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using a large bucket or a tote to wash kids inside the showerDid this help you?
- 2Installing a shower head with a hand attachmentDid this help you?
- 3Hiring a professional contractor to do the renovationDid this help you?
- 4Leaving the old tub in place and only redoing the surrounding wallsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I wanna put a shower in this tub, I gotta rip out all the walls right?”source ↗
“Tub is smaller than average so I think I might leave the old tub and just do walls, thoughts?”source ↗
“It's a lot of work. Realistically have to rip out a strip of flooring that abuts the shower/tub, rip out the wet wall (probably all 3 as you won't have exact match tiles & grout to just do one wall), rip out subfloor, redo the drain, redo the supply, put on new subfloor, set tub, put on new waterproofing, redo tiles, redo floor where it meets up with tub.”source ↗
“Definitely doable, but sounds like one of those projects that gets bigger once you open the walls 😭”source ↗
“Plan is to rip it all down and start from scratch if I have to which I think I do lol”source ↗
“Hello, the previous homeowners took out a bathtub and put this walk in shower in. I have little ones so I want to rip this out and put a bathtub back in.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to add a bidet sprayer to a bathtub faucet
- 2Why is my bathtub overflow leaking behind the wall?
- 7How to fix a botched DIY bathtub finish?
- 3Why won't a new bathtub spout fit my existing pipe?
- 4How to fill a 4-inch gap under an acrylic tub
- 7Second-floor bathtub is cracking and flexing with no backup bathroom